Jehovah's Witnesses Came to My Neighborhood

by Juan Viejo2 24 Replies latest watchtower scandals

• 

  blondie

  @sir82,

  I love that too, "apathy carts" and the jws faces at those carts proves it.

  When I was "regular pioneering" I learned all the tricks of the trade from older jws how to stretch my reporting time. I figured that one morning my time spent was really

  1) meeting with the group and waiting 1/2 hour for jws that were perennially late.

  2) after the late ones showed, still standing around talking socially for another 1/2 hour before anyone went out to get in the vehicles

  3) taking 20 minutes to give out blocks for each pair to call on

  4) 10 minutes before knocking on the first door

  5) because the territory was made up of people who were never at home I spent 1 hour talking to no one except my partner

  6) Everyone decided it was time for a break, went to the local cafe where we met 2 other groups also stopping for "coffee" which was really a big breakfast. 45 minutes later everyone said it was time to go home saying they would be stopping to talk to someone that were on their "magazine route" "to keep their time going."

  Everyone else reported the time from the moment they walked out their door to when they walked back into through their door. I was uncomfortable with that but I realized I would never reach the hour quota each month unless I did.

  I once told an elder that if jws worked on a commission like most sales people did, were only paid based on the real results they showed (payment: everlasting life on a paradise earth), and had to report real converts each month to get paid, jws might be more productive/effective.

  Fake it until you make it (your time) was a phrase I adapted to this situation.

  Even the WTS tells its members not to be discouraged if they never make a convert, that the important is to be out there. But now the WTS is giving detailed instructions in the WT study articles on how to be more effective. More jws dying (boomer generation) and few coming in, mostly next generation children, and more of those are leaving as they reach the age of majority. Less numbers = less money coming in; less men to do the admin stuff in the congregation.
• 

  LV101

  I'm shocked the cult hasn't demanded the breakfast expense be donated to them and the JWs lug along their own snacks/meals like out-of-town conventions -- always challenging when one flies to their destination. What a pathetic publishing biz. Proves their purpose is to keep the JWs too busy to have a life and under the watchful eye of big bro.
• 

  nowwhat?

  After being inactive for 6 mo. Or so, I thought I would give field service one more try. They were just passing out special tracts that month so it would be easy. But after 1 hr. I couldn't take it anymore. And quit early!.
• 

  tiki

  How can they even stand it....to sit around in a car mindlessly....slowly driving in circles....hanging out on doorsteps for minutes on end.....ugh. I quit fs very early on in my prolonged fade.....and prior to that I was criticized because there were drug crime infested zones I categorically refused to go in. I wasn't exercising faith in the angels protection....and I was denying the life giving message to the down trodden. Evil me.
• 

  road to nowhere

  Been there and that is one of better days. Doing not at homes on Saturday when everyone is still at the grocery the conductor giving a short talk instead if getting with the program.

  The break is the high point. Dont forget the Van's seat 8, but 4 of them better be agile children, then there is a muppet kingdom song playing, and you are supposed to talk only about spiritual things. I always hope for someone to find a talker as t hff at leaves the rest of us with free time.

  Meantime, there is serious necessary stuff not being done at home while you waste a day
• 

  dozy

  One of our elders was one of the biggest ministry time wasters that I knew - he actually made our pioneers who had long mastered the "pioneer plod" look industrious - he was the type who would assign the territory ( eventually ) and then spend whole mornings driving around the territory making sure "everybody is OK" and basically using every dodge under the sun to knock on as few doors as humanly possible yet still count his time in full.

  He had an evening insurance / loans door-to-door collection round and a couple of times he had car trouble so I drove him around in my car. What a contrast - he virtually would run from door to door - knocked loudly - no hanging about at all - shouted out directions to me & kept asking me to speed up. He wouldn't even stop for a take out coffee or toilet break ( the round took about 3 1/2 hours ). I couldn't help but think about the incredible contrast with his apathetic attitude to the "lifesaving work" and when he was doing something that actually was productive.
• 

  eyeuse2badub

  Couple of weeks ago I drove by the KH that I used to attend. It's located on what I'd call a semi residential street. There are both English and Spanish congregations using the hall.

  4 older jw's were sitting in the shade of the trees along side 2 'witnessing' carts. 2 by the Spanish and 2 by the English! As we drove by I looked at my pimi wife and just said, WOW!

  just saying!
• 

  redvip2000

  This cart thing is brilliant.

  And like someone said here, sometimes there are 3 jdubs standing next to a cart, when not a single conversation is had during the entire shift, and they are all counting the same time.

  Why not put a big billboard on top of each kingdom hall with a message to go to Jw.org and then just count 24 hours of preach of daily work for the entire congregation
• 

  Spiral

  I've had two door-to-door visits in 4 plus years. They don't hang around long, even when (TV going, door open) it's obvious someone is home.

  I once knew a pioneer sister who told me (and not in jest) that she started her time the minute she started putting her pantyhose on. Another I know gets up and immediately sends a text message to an "interested person" and then starts her time. Total time counted, several hours. Conversations, zero.
• 

  Dagney

  Another "sittin' around doin nuttin' but countin' time" story...

  I posted a few years ago that I saw a canopy and a table with literature on the side of the road in Baja. We passed them coming and going into town, 6+ times a day. There were 4 people sitting at the table, chatting away. Not once over the 3 days did we see them talking to anybody other than themselves.

  Pretty easy ticket to paradise I guess.